A coroner's jury in Toronto that is probing the case of teenager
Ashley Smith visited the small prison cell in the southern Ontario
facility where she died five years ago.
The five-woman panel on Thursday toured the federal Grand Valley
Institution for Women in Kitchener, where the 19-year-old choked to
death after tying a piece of cloth around her neck, to get a first-hand
look at where she spent her final days.
Jurors asked officials many questions about her cell — a
beige-painted cell measuring 1.5 metres wide by three metres long — in
the prison's segregation unit, such as how often it was cleaned, the
CBC's Ioanna Roumeliotis reported from Kitchener.
The CBC and The Canadian Press are accompanying the inquest panel on
their tour as pool media representatives, gathering information for all
media outlets.
The panel requested that guards shut the door, with them inside, to
get an idea of what it was like for Smith, Roumeliotis added.Ashley Smith choked to death in her cell at the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ont., on Oct. 19, 2007. (Marnie Luke/CBC)

"It's clear that these jurors are taking their task really
seriously," she said. "They really do want to get a real sense of what
Ashley Smith's time in prison was like."
Inside the cell was a single bed with a rolled-up pad that serves as a
mattress. There were a sink and a toilet behind a privacy screen,
Roumeliotis reported. The cell also had a single window, which was
equipped with a camera, she said.
Jurors also took time to peer through the knee-level food slot in the
cell door. Smith often lay at the foot of the door, and most of the
time, looking through the slot was the only way guards could get a good
look at her, Roumeliotis added. There was also a small viewing window at
about eye level.
Evidence about what guards could see of the cell interior is expected
to play a role given that Smith frequently covered the interior
surveillance camera and viewing window with toilet paper, The Canadian
Press reported.
Bits of toilet paper are still visible on some of the cameras.

After examining Smith's cell, the jurors and media toured the
maximum-security area, Roumeliotis reported, although the troubled teen
spent little time there.2nd inquest attemptSmith spent years being shuttled back and forth between the country's prisons and was in isolation much of the time.

She died on Oct. 19, 2007, after she tied a ligature around her neck,
as prison guards stood outside her cell and watched. They say they were
told not to intervene. Guards also videotaped her death, footage of
which will be shown to jurors at a later date.
The inquest began Monday, with coroner Dr. John Carlisle calling it the "best memorial to we could give to Ashley."

Ashley
Smith, shown surrounded by guards at a prison at Joliette, Que. in July
2007, in this image made from video. Smith spent years being shuttled
back and forth among the country's prisons before her death in October
2007. (Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario/Canadian Press)"We
cannot now reverse the course of history as it unfolded, but we can
learn from the circumstances of this death, and try … to implement
measures to prevent future tragedies," he said Monday in his opening
remarks.
This is the second inquest into Smith's death, after the first
attempt went off the rails amid acrimonious legal squabbling. That
inquest was scrapped after the first presiding coroner retired.
Carlisle has said he wants the impact of prolonged segregation on
Smith's mental health explored. Smith suffered from an anti-social
personality disorder with borderline traits, psychiatrist Paul Beaudry wrote in a 2010 report.Family hopes for changeSmith's
family says it hopes the inquest will answer lingering questions about
the teenager's death, and lead to tangible changes in the system.The
mother of Ashley Smith, Coralee Smith, says she hopes the second
inquest into her daughter's death will lead to changes to the
correctional system. (Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)"We
still have Ashleys, we still have Ashleys being treated in the same
tortuous, horrendous ways that Ashley was treated," her mother, Coralee
Smith, told CBC News.
"The money they're using, the money that's being spent keeping people
in prison, could be much better directed … at mental health services
way before they get to the courtroom, way before."
Smith's family, however, have not been able to attend inquest
hearings due to Coralee's frail health, their lawyer Julian Falconer
said.

Posted Jan-19-2013 By

grok

@BF03 We need a socialized prision care like in Sweden....In the gloarious socialized Europe they take care of their prisioners and try to help them....In America they kick them in the balls....I F**KING HATE AMERICA!!!!!

Posted Jan-17-2013 By

caughtontape

Comment of user 'bigs31uk' has been deleted by author (after account deletion)!

@sniperfox99
Totally.
Either they prevent the inmate from doing things like that or they get in and stop her/him after a few seconds with a purple face...
These stupid guards acted like they were afraid of going into the cell, in 4 and armed.

Posted Jan-18-2013 By

LoveShock

Comment of user 'Sherriff' has been deleted by author (after account deletion)!

@bigs31uk No.. just read the wikipedia entry.. Clearly she was destroyed by people who circumvented rules. And she was placed in correctional facilities as a 14 year old after doing something insignificant (throwing apples at the mailman) -- a 1 month sentence became 4 years -- she was put into SOLITARY CONFINEMENT the day she was admitted. She was in isolation the entire 4 years. This is the sad state of mental health.

Posted Jan-19-2013 By

grok

Comment of user 'rattenkrieg' has been deleted by author (after account deletion)!

Comment of user 'rattenkrieg' has been deleted by author (after account deletion)!

@rattenkrieg It's definitely not your fault man, you can never ever fully understand what goes on in one's head, and that's regardless of how close they are to you. Just try to focus on your life and appreciate the time you have, take and give love as much as you can.

Posted Jan-18-2013 By

jitterball

Comment of user 'Zardoz003' has been deleted by author (after account deletion)!

@Zardoz003 You're pathetic. She was mentally ill, locked away and needed help. Imagine that was you kid, would just stand and watch? That was a rhetorical question, so don't bother replying to me you fukking piece of scum.

Posted Jan-18-2013 By

ezwider

Posted Jan-18-2013 By

ezwider

@ezwider I know what you are trying to do but it doesn't work. Now, crawl back up your mothers thighs and get back into her hole where you came from. Make sure you tell her to abort you this time. Also, when you go down on your mother, does she cum?

Posted Jan-18-2013 By

livewire242

@livewire242
You are absolutely correct. The mental health act is what needs changing. People forget that the guards were instructed not to interfere. If they did, they would have been in contravenation of the MHA. She obviously was mentally ill with a history of violence. She needed help that only a committed person can get. Very sad case indeed.

Posted Jan-18-2013 By

kingsnake11

@kingsnake11 Can you explain in a little more detail what the MHA is and how they {the guards} would get in trouble for helping?
This would be unthinkable in Sweden - but then again, she never would have landed in prison in the first place. Don't you guys have mental hospitals?

Posted Jan-18-2013 By

helliroll

Very sad. The way a society treats its weakest and defenseless has a lot to say about it. These people are definitely having their basic human rights violated, and I hope to see a class action lawsuit or an international court take a look at this atrocity.

Posted Jan-19-2013 By

72_virgins_no_more

Fucking Canadian legal system will give the guards settlements and free trips to Hawaii for the trauma they suffered because they let this happen. Then it will turn around and sue the girls mother for being insensitive to the guards plight. It is almost that ridiculous here.

Posted Jan-18-2013 By

mere_iguana

Comment of user 'MrPhilby' has been deleted by author (after account deletion)!

Why couldn't they just fucking leave the video RAW? Who knows if voices are dubbed in or not. Either way, its friggin strange. Who the hell told the guards not to intervene and why would the guards obey such an order? That story is just too damn strange.

Posted Jan-19-2013 By

ArrestU

@ArrestU That is why they are having an inquest. The Corrections department had the video and tried to hide it. They fought tooth and nail to keep it from the inquest. Yes she was mentally unstable but the prison system kept transferring her repeatedly from institution to institution instead of dealing with her. Essentially I think she finally snapped.

Posted Jan-22-2013 By

ArrestU

She was clearly doing this for attention. That's why she is moving so slow and obvious, intending for the officer to come in and stop her. I would have done the same thing as this officer for a couple of reasons. First, because she is crying for attention and so you don't feed into that behavior. The Second reason is because I believe that people should have the right to do whatever they want with their own life. Who am I to force this person to live? However, the most important reason that I woMore..uld be hesitant to intervene, is because she is a female and can make any number of accusations against me. I would have to wait until a reputable female officer could arrive, lest I lose my job, my savings, my family, my reputation and quite possibly even my freedom... In this day and age, you have to navigate the delicate egg-shells of political-correctism.Less..

Jarlsberglover

Posted Jan-19-2013 By

killingforgod

Comment of user 'DontFeedMyDog' has been deleted by author (after account deletion)!

@DontFeedMyDog I think you missed my point. I have known and loved people that decided to take their own life and left the rest of us wondering how we failed to recognize their problems and help them. This persons problems started long before the system got involved and they don't have a crystal ball either.

Posted Jan-18-2013 By

navyk77

@navyk77 I would argue that this type of person SHOULD be in solitary, because they're more likely to harm the people around them. They probably also shouldn't be allowed any type of ligature, which is a failure on the prison's part, but if they're truly intent on killing themselves, they're going to find a way. And I honestly believe that if someone wants to end it, they should be allowed that right, crazy or not.

Posted Jan-18-2013 By

Elk Snot

WTF is wrong with the fucking system... First they watch and videotape her dying, then they do nothing for 10 fucking minutes and none of them have any CPR training.. Why is it that nobody can do their fucking job properly anymore?!?!? What ever happened to SERVE and PROTECT????!? I realize they're not police but the system is supposed to protect people not kill them. I hope the jail guards and their superiors who ordered them not to intervene get an assisted suicide charge.. After all, If I More..watch someone steal and say or do nothing, I'm an accomplice.. The way I see it, they're all accomplices..Less..

Posted Jan-19-2013 By

JJTrue

This adopted girl was involved in over 800 criminal incidents...If she was shown in another vid doing these things everyone would be screaming scumbag,should be shot etc...make your mind up time, but I wouldn't want the family as neighbours.

Posted Jan-18-2013 By

sexysuzie

Posted Jan-18-2013 By

WotWot

Terrible, such a young woman.
The correction officers are worried about being accused of inappropriate behavior that they are trained to protect themselves and their agency before they perform their jobs.
Adding heartbeat sounds and breathing sounds trivializes the entire situation.

Posted Jan-18-2013 By

ScoobySnackbar

Posted Jan-18-2013 By

Zeb

Money for mental health systems just doesn't exist any more. In the UK and US and Canada I suspect. The focus is on getting the mentally ill back into community-based care, which is often ill-prepared for people with serious issues. Often they just wind up in jail, or homeless. Swept under the carpet.